Around Los Angeles, skies will be mostly clear until 1 a.m. when the marine layer is expected to move in, obscuring the show, according to a forecast by accuweather.com.
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The 2016 meteor shower is expected to be much more active than usual, so much so that astronomers are referring to this year’s event as a “Perseid meteor outburst”.
The Perseid meteor shower reached its peak last night with around 200 meteors streaking across the night sky per hour.
If you get lucky and snap a few pics of the meteor shower tonight, be sure to upload them to our website under the “My Capture” link!
The Perseid Meteor Shower is a highlight every August for stargazers and astronomy enthusiasts. While the Earth moves through the trail, viewers can see a streak of lime light and falling stars that is caused when burning debris enters the atmosphere.
An August tradition, the Perseids are so named because the meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus, the Medusa-killing hero of Greek mythology. Occasionally, though, Jupiter’s gravity tugs the huge network of dust trails closer, and Earth plows through closer to the middle, where there’s more material. Some of these itty-bitty pieces of comet are REALLY old and have traveled billions of miles. Just get away from as much city light as you can (not too hard for us in Arizona!). United States observers will also get a great view of the ramp up to the peak between moonset and sunrise on Friday morning, August 12.
The Minnesota Astronomical Society is also planning a viewing party starting at 9 p.m. Thursday at Eagle Lake Observatory in Norwood Young America.
The meteor shower will peak Thursday night into Friday early. But as it passes it leaves particles behind, which can be seen each August.
They need only to grab a lawn chair or recliner, let their eyes adjust to the dark for about 45 seconds and sit back and watch the sky.
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The best time to view the Perseids is between midnight and dawn.
